Now the Sun is Finally Shining, How About Some Books About War?
by Charlotte Reads Classics
After my Tudor reading, I fancy a mini reading project based around War literature. There are obviously lots of brilliant books about a lot of wars around the world so I’ve narrowed my selection down to books written about WWI and WWII, as I find this period of history interesting.
I’ve picked eight books that are all on my Classics Club list. Two birds, one stone and all that, and this way I can also stick to my attempt to stop buying new books and read the ones I already have.
- Faulks, Sebastian, Birdsong
- Gibbons, Stella, Westwood
- Graves, Robert, Goodbye To All That
- Grossman, Vasily, Life and Fate
- Hemingway, Ernest, A Farewell to Arms
- Nemirovsky, Irene, Suite Française
- Vonnegut, Kurt, Cat’s Cradle
- Wells, H. G., The War of the Worlds
And will add to this list some novels written recently:
- Beauman, Ned, Boxer Beetle
- Hollinghurst, Alan, The Stranger’s Child
- Kerr, Philip, Berlin Noir
- Littell, Jonathan, The Kindly Ones
- Young, Louisa, My Dear I Wanted to Tell You
So, thirteen books, six about the WWI and seven about WWII. I could read them chronologically, I could read the modern novels separately, I might read the two science fiction novels together. I’m not sure I’ll manage to read all of these in a row – I have an unspecified timeframe, but as you know I chop and change what my reading plans are whenever I feel like it. But if this works, I have similar lists for projects that I could start. I’m looking at you, gigantic stack of Edwardian novels…
The books have been moved to their new home – in an oppressive stack next to my bed. I’m feeling quite enthusiastic – it’ll be brilliant to have read all of these books. I am also quite curious to see if any of them will replace my current (I’m not sure ‘favourite’ is the right word) most admired war novel: All Quiet on the Western Front. If any of them even come close, I’ll be onto a winner because that book is truly astounding. Actually, make that fourteen books because I’ll have to re-read this one too.
Edit: I’ve just managed to get hold of a copy of Regeneration by Pat Barker so now there are fifteen books!
I read both Suite Francaise and A Farewell to Arms and I loved them. But they didn’t really displace All Quiet on the… from my top of war stories list.
I think it will be a tough book to beat. Good to hear you enjoyed those books, I’ve started A Farewell to Arms and really liking it so far.
Great list, bonne chance, look forward to reading how you found them.
Thanks Claire!
Is that a lovely Penguin English Library book I see before me? Yet another lovely series that tempts me to buy more books than is strictly necessary!
It certainly is! I was completely unable to resist! The worst / best part is that inside they put a catalogue for the rest of the series, including which titles are published in which month… Temptation!
Great list! Suite Francaise was a favorite the year I read it, and I remember liking Birdsong, too.
Brilliant, I’ve been meaning to read Suite Française for ages, so I’m really pleased to hear you liked it.
I really like this idea (and this list). Only read A Farewell to Arms and failed spectacularly and repeatedly with Vonnegut. I’m looking forward to your updates on this project 😀
*off to add books to an ever-increasing to-read list*
Thank you, I’m definitely looking forward to making some progress through this list!
[…] you can gather, I’m returning to the War Books project I started back in May – a list of books that seems to be spiraling out of control, […]
[…] Look out for a proper post about it later this week, along with an update on my original War Books project (hint: it is a much bigger list than when I […]
[…] Back in May, I came up with an idea to read more books about War. I had several unread books about WWI and WWII on my bookshelves and on my Classics Club list and thought I would make a bit of a themed reading event (albeit just for myself) where really the main outcome was to get the books crossed off. Here is my very naive original post. […]